Giving face (1)

Meanwhile on the battlefield torn by spells sat a certain Moirai on a stalagmite amidst the torrent of water which had been thrown at him. The expression on his face looked rather displeased as he stared at his adversary.

" As if dealing with the human was not frustrating enough of its own, now I have to appease these small magic-wielding children as well." A long sigh escaped his lips as he muttered those words in English.

He seemed to be aware of the fact, that no one present would be able to understand his rant. Though he did not show any signs of being bothered by it. Even after seeing the strange gazes thrown at him he just continued without any sort of worry.

" What a hassle. I have promised to guide these children and I can not reengage on my promise since that would mean giving up on the deal as well. They have proven themselves to be incapable of beating a single human, why do they still act so confident?"

The next magic was cast and the wave of water closed in on the current location of Moirai, who sat there unperturbed by the attack that was directed at him.

" The only way to teach these brats about humility will be to showcase them a gap of power, that they will never be able to overcome. It would be so much easier to just kill them, but alas it is not that easy."

Leisure standing up the Moirai lifted his right hand and held it against the attack. The onlookers were confused by Moirai sudden change in behaviour. He could not have given up so quickly, nor was he foolish enough to face magic of this calibre head-on, so what was his plan?

Something unexpected occurred as Moirai casually lifted his right arm to face the attack. The wave of water was cut in 2 and the 2 streams of water were flung to the sides of Moirai. Moirai did not even bat an eye, as he casually walked closer.

The crowd itself was flabbergasted by the outlandish event, which threatened to collapse their understanding of the world. Moirai on the other hand still did not seem to care about their shattered world view as he approached his enemy.

The look in his eyes did not showcase hostility or anger, rather it was disdain. Regardless of what his current enemy did, he did not have any change in expression and just marched forward, coming closer and closer.

With calm steps, Moirai had come face to face with his enemy, who in return just stared at Moirai while thinking of a way to kill the NPC right in front of her. All of this had happened way too fast and she was unable to muster a good response to the sudden change.

Moirai switched his language once again so that his next words could be understood.

" You can not win with this mediocre display of magic. I am not solely talking to you, but to everyone present here. Struggling to this extent against a weak human being. What a shameful act. Blinded by your own arrogance and pride."

A gigantic rock closed in on Moirai yet it was simply deflected by Moirai and tossed aside with ease. The youth who had thrown the spell looked at Moirai with utter disbelief. The result should have been something entirely different but yet the desired result did not occur.

" What are you trying to achieve by attacking me? Did you really think that it would end differently? There has to be a limit to your blind confidence. Acting without a plan and simply hoping for the best, will only lead to your death."

Moirai was interrupted as 2 different spells came homing in on him simultaneously. One was a sharp wave of wind blades and the other one was a wave of gleaming light. Both of them were effortlessly pushed aside by 2 simple hand movements leaving Moirai unscathed.

" Combing your strength is a valid strategy, but it is by far not enough. The outcome will still remain the same, whether or not you shrouded in darkness or you with your lightning attack me as well. Every single attempt of yours is doomed to end in failure."

Not even 2 meters away from Moirai a figure dressed entirely in black jumped out of the shadows. It was more than obvious that he did not think that his presence had been discovered. in his hands was a sharp dagger which was certainly prepared for Moirai.

" A darkness attribute, quite a rare type. A shame that you are unable to utilize it in a sufficient manner. A holy attribute is also very rare, although your usage of it still requires a lot of work."

All of a sudden a violent thunder broke through the sky and landed on the unsuspecting Moirai. Yet as Moirai was bathing in the dangerous thunder an eerie smile crept onto his lips.

" You truly think yourself to be infallible, treating everyone and everything to be beneath you. With that little skill of yours, What gives you the right to act so brazen, my dear child? From everyone present here you are the one, who deserves the upcoming lesson the most."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone Moirai disappeared and reappeared directly in front of the player who would have been the last one to fight with Moirai.

" You see, some are capable of learning through watching others, while some learn by thinking about a matter but you are the type of person to learn through experience and I can tell that it is going to be a bitter one."

In one quick motion, a sharp hair laced with a strange liquid had been inserted directly into the brain of the player. His body collapsed on the spot and began to convulse. Everybody could only watch in sheer shock as they tried to fathom what was currently taking place right in front of them.

" Now let me see, how you fare in comparison to the human, you still look down upon." But the player itself could not hear those words as his condition did not allow any interference from outside influences.

But everyone else could hear those words loud and clearly. Looking at the twitching body which had been full of vigour seconds ago left them with a bad premonition. After Moirais eyes had lingered on for a few seconds he began to look at the frowning players.

" Rest assured, he is not going to lose his life over this. Though most likely he would have preferred to." The last part of the sentence was nearly inaudible as Moirai had whispered it.

" Right at this moment, he is being taught a valuable lesson. This is a priceless opportunity that will be bestowed on you. Although its purpose might seem peculiar to you now, you will understand when the time has come."

Moirai did not wait for the people to realize what those words actually meant. Signs of hesitation, which had been present on their faces, had become even more distinct, as the players thought what actions to take next.

Seemingly unperturbed by the strange atmosphere Moirai proceeded to walk closer to them without any hurry. His steps were steadfast and firm but for the others, it sounded dark and ominous. Yet, no one managed to discover that the ground bore no traces of Moirai.

Moirai arrived in front of the closest person and inserted the next hair. There was no struggle, no defence and no hope to escape from the imminent act of the seemingly reborn Moirai. His eyes had already fixated on the next target and as the body fell to the ground it had already lost its importance.

One by one they would fall victim to this and everyone was aware of that fact, although no one spoke up about it. Except for a single person amongst them whose eyes were still glued on Moirai to try and understand the source of his strength.

Laura could not care any less about the fate of the others as she had declared to not be part of the fight right at the beginning. which had proven to be a wise decision, though not for the reasons she had in mind when deciding it.

Despite being caught by surprise she gave her all to see and copy Moirais abilities. Yet she barely managed to catch glimpses of it and even then could she not explain how or what exactly he did. The sudden change in Moirais behaviour was just as inexplicable to her.

Watching the spectacle unfold. Laura realized that Moirai had taken notice of her gazes and returned them from time to time. Other than that Moirai treated her as if she was nothing more than air. Laura had no intention of fighting Moirai, there was no benefit in it.

As long as she could manage to copy Moirai and grasp this chance, she was more than willing to just stand aside and let Moirai do his bidding. The fate of the competitors was negligible in her eyes. She did not feel like proving herself, at least not before she had gained insight into Moirais secrets.

The lack of actual resistance was regretful in her eyes, as it took away the precious time she had to spectate Moirais actions. To change this Laura decided to give them a little encouragement. She looked at Moirai and began to raise her voice so that everyone could hear it.

" Dear Moirai, why do you seem so full of haste. Should you not tell us more about all of this, or is there any reason you can not do that?" a knowing smile crept on her face as she spoke in an innocent fashion

The underlying meaning did not get lost on the rest of the players as they began to wake up from their stupor and made preparations to attack Moirai again with their newly regained confidence. Yet Moirai looked at them as if nothing had changed.

" I praise you for being able to rally the players and bring them to attack me with full of vigour once again. By pointing out, that I seemed hurried you made them believe that this state of mine would only be temporary. This assumption falsely leads them to think, that they could easily win once it had passed."

While Moirai seemed preoccupied with answering the question from Laura, there was a sudden movement from the player possessing the shadow element. Nobody could clearly see when or how but the players had suddenly appeared right behind Moirai wielding a long blade coated in a dark substance.

In one quick motion, the blade inserted itself into the Moirai who seemed to not have noticed the sudden danger that befell him. With a victorious smile, the youth clad in black clothing began to look at Moirai with great expectations. But to his dismay, the expected result did not materialise.

Instead of Moirai yelping in pain and blood spraying out of the wound, an audible chuckle escaped from his lips.

" The art of assassination is inseparable from the darkness element. It is used to kill the unsuspecting target before it has any chance to retaliate. But an assassin that has been spotted has lost its biggest edge. Afterwards, it can not be called an assassin anymore. At most, it can be considered a mild nuisance, because the threat it had posed before is now gone."

The player had a creepy feeling and wanted to retreat as soon as possible but even after trying he could not get the weapon out of Moirais body. It had been lodged deeply into the flesh. What went in so easily now did not budge a single inch.

The player was forced to make a decision and chose to give up on his weapon to flee as fast as he could. Yet, it was already far too late for that. Despite his silhouette appearing again as quickly as it had appeared, it still found not escape the hands from Moirai who had easily grabbed his arm.

" Just because you can not be seen, does not mean that you can escape that easily. Because you are still very visible to me. So when you attack your next target, choose a more suitable spot on my body."

In the blink of an eye had the attacker gone from attack to flee, from confident to lying on the ground convulsing as the other players who had been caught before him. The result had been the same despite the newly gained boost in confidence they had received.

Moirai eyes lingered on the player for a short while afterwards before he returned his attention to the rest of the players who were still active. The number of players had quickly diminished and only 3 people had yet to receive Moirais "lesson".

Once more they were forced to reevaluate their situation. The previous clash, if it even could be called this did not give them much reason to hope. The cold and harsh reality had caught up with them.

This simulated world that none of them had taken seriously before confronted them with circumstances they just could not understand. At this point in time it was not a game anymore it had become much more real to them.

The emotions they felt beforehand were not truly genuine, there was always a feeling in their mind dousing them and reminding them of the fabricated nature of everything in front of their eyes. But the lines became more and more blurry as Moirai shattered their view over and over again.

As the voice in the back of their end grew faint their minds became clouded by the absurdity that is Moirai. This detail did not go unnoticed by Moirai as a dangerous glint appeared in his eyes. The previous expression on his face had been replaced by one of great interest.

" It is easy to delude yourself into thinking to be superior but this is only the result out of your meagre education and lack of experience. Those who think too highly of themselves also tend to be the first one to lose their lives."

"A tale as old as time itself. The weak and foolish die, while the only the strong remain. But my dear little children, you have absolutely no idea what strength truly is. In this vast world, it rules over everything and every being has to bow in front of it. But there are some who refuse to lower their heads when confronted by it."

A long sigh escaped Moirais mouth. as a certain visage appeared in his mind.

" These people are fools. Though the act itself is of minor importance, the true reason these kind of people are so fearful is their motivation. Consider yourself lucky if they have lost their mind."

Moirai did not waste any time as the other 2 players were not spared from sharing the same fate as the rest. Though this time the expression on their faces seemed not as severe as the faces of the other players who had tried to struggle.

On the other hand, the look on Lauras was was one of enormous disappointment. It had never been a fight and she had never been able to see Moirai use his ability to copy it. She was all too aware that her turn had come, therefore she prepared herself for the upcoming battle.

Her turn never came as Moirai had lost all interest and just stood still gazing into the distance. This sudden change left Laura perplexed as the entire situation had developed in a manner she could not understand.

Moirais gaze turned sharp as his eyes had spotted something in the distance. Laura turned around as well to confirm what he was looking for but found nothing. As her head moved back towards Moirai, she nearly fell over as she noticed the 2 different Moirais who had appeared right in front of her.

" Quite brazen, to do this so openly." One Moirai spoke as he opened his hand to reveal several hairs which he promptly incinerated. " Did I make myself not clear enough? "

" You did make yourself loud and clear. But as far as I can tell nothing happened here. So who are you to tell me what to do?" The arrogance was palpable as both of them looked another into the eyes with no one dodging this exchange.

The other Moirai looked unconcerned by this development as he looked at the battlefield and the suffering players. He had never been a fan of such cruel and unrefined methods of teaching. Although, he could not complain about it since he had given the task to do so.

He looked at the quarrelling pair before he spoke in a calm but assertive manner.

" We need to talk. But before we do would you be so kind as to stop directing attacks at the holy attribute user?"

" I am just doing her a favour. She has yet to realise that hey eyes are not a blessing but a curse. Those Gods will never understand that they can never grow if they shelter them too much."

" Yet, you are the one who has been caught and banished to this space for countless years now." came a remark full of snide from the other side.

The other Moirai could only shake his head. One of them was already enough to cause him a lot of headaches but now there were 2. He just hoped that this could take place, without any chaos resulting out of it.

He sadly did not place too many hopes on their good behaviour. Before the talk had even begun, he wondered if all of his actions had been wise. Watching the interaction in front of his eyes gave him a foreboding feeling, that his decision had been quite flawed.

All of a sudden both Moirais turned quiet, as they were grabbed and held in place by an invisible pressure. " Would you please show some manners? Thank you."

This marked the begin of the (involuntary) talk between these 3 Moirai lookalikes.